Tornovish Alleges Deputy Police Chief Sent Threatening Text Message

There were more than a few memorable moments from last Wednesday's Select Board meeting, where there were numerous, intense exchanges during a discussion of the Nantucket fire chief position.

One that merited a follow-up was when former Nantucket Police Department Detective Steve Tornovish took the mic and disclosed an interaction he had with the current Nantucket Deputy Police Chief Charles Gibson, the husband of town manager Libby Gibson.

“This morning I received an unsolicited text message from Deputy Chief Gibson of the Nantucket Police Department,” Tornovish said. “It is my belief this text message was designed to be threatening in nature. This text, although poorly written, conveyed a message about my having commented on ‘something you know nothing about.’ Although not explicitly stated in the deputy chief’s text, I surmise that this unsettling communication was about my public opposition to the selection process for the fire chief position. In case anyone was wondering, I chose not to be intimidated. It is disturbing that someone in a position of such significant authority would take this overt action to try to deny me my first amendment rights.”

Gibson did not return an e-mail or text message seeking comment.

Tornovish shared the text message in question with the Current:

It's unclear if the Select Board will be taking any further action in this case based on Tornovish's allegations.